Three and a half years later, Russell — an extrovert’s extrovert, whose force of personality energizes a room more quickly than a round of double espressos — surveys the state of her business from the cupping station of her warehouse. Burlap sacks of green beans are piled on pallets and shelves. Two roasting machines disgorge beans at a regular clip. Over the whoosh of the machines a tape-dispenser symphony can be heard, played by a dozen workers packing 12-ounce bags into boxes and envelopes. A barista in training brings Russell a cappuccino capped with a perfect foam heart.​Equator has clearly recovered.

"Rigo negotiated a phase-out strategy for Equator that gave them time to adjust," but Russell and McDonnell dove headlong back into retail, first opening at Proof Lab in 2013 and followed that up in 2014 with 2 Miller, which has become a downtown community hub. They also opened a cafe on Market Street between 5th and 6th streets in downtown San Francisco, and are opening cafes in downtown Larkspur and on Second Street in SF in the the lobby of the new LinkedIn offices.

The cafes allowed the roasters to show off the single-origin coffees McDonnell had been experimenting with for years. “People want authenticity,” Russell says. “They want an experience.” The shift also conveyed to their restaurant clients that the company wasn’t falling behind.​​“Retail drives wholesale, and wholesale is our golden goose,” Russell says. Wholesale revenue was up 22 percent this year, she says, and Internet sales have risen as well — particularly the single-origin premium coffees.

The story has an even happier ending that just a well-navigated recovery. In September, Rigo called Russell to tell her that he was buying back some of cafes from Starbucks and operating them under the name La Boulangerie. He asked Russell is Equator would again be his roaster.

Minadakis has committed Mill Valley's world class theatrical organization to producing all 10 plays within legendary playwright August Wilson’s century cycle dramatizing the African American experience during the 20th century, an unprecedented series that includes the Pulitzer Prize winning Fences and The Piano Lesson. He's almost a third of way there.

MTC kicked off the cycle with a production of Seven Guitars in 2011 and Fences in 2014, and is set to continue its 49th season with the debut Gem of the Ocean on January 14.

Set in 1904 Pittsburgh, Gem of the Ocean is chronologically the first in Wilson's century-cycle series, though it was the second-to-last play he penned (2003). The play is set in the Hill District neighborhood that Wilson himself called home for much of his early life. The most mystical of all of Wilson’s plays, Gem also features Wilson’s ubiquitous matriarch character, the 285 year old “Aunt Ester,” referenced in his other nine plays but seen only in this 1904 story. Bay Area favorite Margo Hall is taking on this role, originated by Phylicia Rashad on Broadway.

New York-based director Daniel Alexander Jones is making his MTC debut at the helm of Gem.

The Mill Valley Arts Commission have unveiled the winners of its 17th Annual Click Off Photography Competition, and winners' work is on display through December at the Mill Valley Community Center (180 Camino Alto).

​The Click Off is a digital photo contest sponsored by the Mill Valley Arts Commission, Mill Valley Recreation and The Image Flow, the photography learning center and community hub at 401 Miller Ave. Each participant drew from a hat one of five subject categories. The categories highlighted Marin County’s unique characteristics and subsequently revealed each photographer’s perspective. Contestants took a photo that they best believed represented their category between November 4-18. Photographers used cameras of all types, including those on mobile phones.

Photos of the best in show and first place winners are above. Click here for a slide show of all of the winners:

From Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk to the founders of the slew of unicorn companies scattered throughout San Francisco and the Peninsula, entrepreneurs have long since reached rock star status in the Bay Area.

High school student Jack Noble has firsthand experience of that status.

Noble, a Mill Valley native, started his Manzanita Labs mobile game development company with Adam Deming and Hank Gansert, fellow classmates at Bishop Manogue High School in Reno. Their flagship game, EcoEmpire, seeks to “bridge the gap between entertainment and reality” by getting players to react to actual current events, including natural disasters, and monitor their actions’ impact on the environment.

Noble says he was thrilled that the game won the YEP and the $3,000 cash prize that comes with it, but even more excited to get validation from Mill Valley Labs’ founders and a sense that they understood Manzanita’s mission. The company’s team has grown to six, including two Tam High students and one from the Mill Valley Middle School, and is set to launch EcoEmpire on Apple and Android phones in January.

Mill Valley Labs is a two year-old nonprofit organization created by a group of Mill Valley entrepreneurs who found themselves “witnessing an influx of entrepreneurial talent into Mill Valley and seeing an opportunity for creativity through the eyes of our children,” hoping to “leverage our business expertise.”

One of those founders is entrepreneur and 12-year Mill Valley resident Ben Dehan, CEO of Therapydia, a growing network of physical therapy clinics.

“We just thought that we could bring our talents to bear and help people here see their ideas through,” Dehan says.That expertise has not gone unnoticed. A study of the “Top Places to Start a Business in Northern California” by personal finance information portal NerdWallet ranked Mill Valley first in the entire North Bay and 10th in Northern California.

"The city has 24 businesses for every 100 people, the highest number of businesses of all the communities on our list," wrote study author Jonathan Todd.

Mill Valley Labs hosts monthly pitch meeting where local entrepreneurs of any age can pitch their ideas in the hopes of garnering guidance and new contacts. The organization was able to connect another of the 2015 YEP finalists, Tam students Julienne and Antje Worring's clothing line Karma Bikinis, with Marian Kwon’s Sausalito-based tween brand Epic Sky, and the two companies are collaborating.

“We’re really focused on the pitch,” Dehan says. “In the Bay Area and Silicon Valley, you need to be able to distill your message into an easy to understand, meaningful pitch.”

Mill Valley Labs doles out $5,000 to the four finalists – $3,000 to the winner, $1,000 to second place and $500 apiece to the other two finalists.

“We’re just trying to make connections here in Mill Valley,” Dehan says. “Ten years ago, there didn’t seem to be much happening from an entrepreneurial standpoint here in town. But we want everyone to know how entrepreneurially charged up Mill Valley is right now – it’s a hotbed. You don’t have to go all the way down to Sand Hill Rd. for that expertise – it’s right here.”​The 411: Applications for the Young Entrepreneur Prize are due January 11. More info.

Jam band fans have an opportunity to catch a four-night run of rock supergroup Hard Working Americans at the Sweetwater Music Hall Dec. 15–18, and to donate new unwrapped toys to Toys for Tots in the process. The downtown Mill Valley music venue connected with the Mill Valley Fire Department, which has been coordinating a donation program in southern Marin for more than two decades, for the much-needed drive.

Mill Valley Fire's program accommodates both a distribution to the Toys for Tots Foundation and via Performing Stars of Marin, which distributes toys to children a few days before Christmas at the Manzanita Recreation Center in Marin City.

Hard Working Americans are laden with household names in the rock and jam band scene, including Todd Snider, longtime Widespread Panic bassist David Schools, Neal Casal of Chris Robinson Brotherhood on guitar and vocals, Chad Staehly of Great American Taxi on keyboards and Duane Trucks, younger brother of guitar great Derek Trucks on drums.

"I bet this week is going to be really interesting," Snider told Relix magazine of the Sweetwater shows. "Four nights in Mill Valley? That could get fun... I know the venue is why we wanted to be there for so many days. It has one of the best sound systems, period. And, then, Bob Weir is a Mt. Rushmore songwriter."

A little rain didn't deter thousands of residents from turning out Sunday for the day-long 20th Annual Enjoy Mill Valley Winterfest, the annual holiday celebration in the Downtown Plaza, featuring an awesome snow sledding hill, a full day of live entertainment and music, children's activities, amazing local food and a Tree Lighting Ceremony.

The day kicked off with the arrival of three trucks carrying 80 tons of snow from the Lake Tahoe area, and ended with Mayor Ken Wachtel and his fellow City Councilmembers leading the countdown for the Tree Lighting Ceremony, with a bevy of sledding, singing, dancing and eating in between.
​Here's a little video of the day:

And the view from the Poekie Nook table, which was packed all day long: